


Birthday Boy

by Vicar_and_His_Barman (orphan_account)



Series: Anecdotes of Bilan [5]
Category: Coronation Street
Genre: Angst, Doesn't like his birthday, M/M, birthday boy - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-12
Updated: 2015-12-12
Packaged: 2018-05-06 08:30:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,659
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5410028
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/Vicar_and_His_Barman
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Billy never liked his birthday. Not after <i>it</i> happened.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Birthday Boy

**Author's Note:**

> Happy birthday, Daniel Brocklebank - the actor who plays Billy, one half of my favourite pairing in Coronation Street.  
> 

Billy opened his eyes. He rolled onto his left side and looked at the desk calendar with bleary eyes. He rubbed a hand over his face and, with new clearer vision, he looked at the calendar again. He reached over, picked up a pen and scraped a cross over the box labelled as the 20th. Today was the 21st. The 21st of December. Four days until Christmas. The vicar groaned. It was his least favourite day. It was his birthday. His thirty-sixth to be precise.

With a sigh, he sat up and stared out of the window. A light mist of condensation dusted the bottom of the glass, droplets of water leaving their slug trails after them as they raced each other down the pane.

It was snowing lightly outside. Probably wouldn't last long enough for snowmen to be built.

'Just as it was twenty years ago,' the vicar mumbled, vision misting like the window had.

For the second time in only a few minutes, he rubbed a hand over his face again. 'No,' he snapped to himself, 'we are _not_ going down that route again this year.' He paused to smile to himself. ' _This_ year, I have Sean to keep me company.'

Swinging his legs out of his bed with a new vigour in his demeanour, he went about his daily routine: brush teeth; toilet; quick wash; mouthwash; clean up around the house; deodorant; dress for work; brush hair.

He planned to wait for Sean in the pub once his sermon had ended at noon and Sean was on duty at the Rovers at half twelve. Maybe it would be quiet today and he and Sean could just talk without being interrupted by a punter.

 

* * *

 

 

Just as he walked around the corner at quarter past twelve to the pub, Kate leapt out at him.

Emitting a rather unmanly shriek, Billy jumped backwards about ten paces and knocked into a random passer-by. With a large inhale of air, he leant against the wall, hand on his chest. 'I think you just aged me about fifteen years,' he breathed, 'never do that again, you little-'

'Aaanywaaay!' the young Connor sang, 'how was the Christmas sermon?'

Billy nodded. 'It was fine, thank you.' He went to walk into the pub, but Kate stepped in his way. 'Um... Kate, as cute as this is, I would rather like to see my boyfriend, in case you had forgotten about him,' he said, a vicious snap frosting the edge of his tone.

'Sean's just getting started with the punters,' Kate explained, 'there's a lotta people in there s'afternoon and you wouldn't want to hold up the line, would you?'

'I suppose not,' the vicar replied, suddenly embarrassed.

'Let's go to the Bistro,' the packaging assistant said, 'Sean said that he'd text me when there was a lull in the flow.'

So, his plans interrupted, Kate linked arms with him and dragged him off to the Bistro.

Billy's bad day was not getting any better.

 

* * *

 

 

Their drinks were put down on the table and Billy offered a weak smile at Steph as she straightened up. 'Happy birthday, by the way, Billy,' she said, cheerfully, 'heard the news this morning.'

The vicar nodded his head and paused his hand with his glass on its travel to his lips. 'Cheers,' he said, tipping the glass, voice a little moody.

'Alright, sorry,' the waitress said, sarcastically, leaving with her eyebrows raised.

'S'matter with ya?' Kate said abruptly, turning to the vicar. 'You've been moody and sullen since I've seen ya.'

Billy shrugged, sipping his drink.

'Come on.'

With a sigh, the vicar gave in. Hiding his mouth against the rim of the glass, he mumbled, 'Don't like my birthday.'

'Why? You one of them sods that don't like admitting they're one year older?' the woman asked in a patronizing manner that was probably meant to be funny.

The vicar's face was one of ugly bitterness and frustration. 'Doesn't matter.'

'Well, actually,' his companion countered, 'it does.'

'Why?'

''Cause, stupid,' she replied, in a manner that spoke of obvious idiocy from the vicar, 'you're me mate.'

'Look,' Billy said, 'I'm flattered that you want to listen to me and help, but...' he trailed off.

'But?'

'I haven't even told Sean about this and I want to get everything out in the open with him first. No secrets, that sort of thing,' he said, gesturing with his hands.

Kate nodded. 'Alright,' she said, sipping from her glass.

They sat in a slightly uncomfortable silence for a few minutes. The vicar was starting to get a little impatient and kept checking his watch. He had finished his drink two minutes ago and his leg started jumping up and down. Kate shot him a glance.

'You're gonna start an earthquake if you keep doin' that,' she snapped, 'sit still.'

Billy sat still.

Although it didn't last for long, as Kate's text tone went off.

'Is that Sean?' he asked, eagerly.

The woman picked up her phone, unlocked it and nodded. 'Yep,' she said, 'he says that there was a lull in the punters and he's free for visitors.'

She hadn't even finished her sentence before the vicar had left. The only evidence that he had ever been there was a swinging door, a warm seat and money for the drinks on the table.

Kate shook her head.

 

* * *

 

 

His grin still in place, Billy opened the door to the pub and walked inside.

For a millisecond, everything was deathly quiet.

Until poppers and party blowers and other miscellaneous loud noises erupted from the silence, giving the poor vicar something short of a heart attack. His vision was obscured as brightly-coloured bits of paper and curly ribbons flew into his face.

It was then, as he blinked the confetti from his eyes, that he noticed a large banner strung up on the wall over the bar with balloons surrounding it. Blue paint formed the words, "Happy 36th, Billy!".

To anyone else that enjoyed their birthday, it would have brought a tear to their eye. But it brought a tear to Billy's eye for very different reasons.

Sean suddenly materialized out of nowhere, giving the vicar his third theatrical heart attack of the day. 'Happy birthday!' the barman cried, kissing Billy's cheek. 'Come on, enjoy yourself.'

Grabbing hold of his arm, Sean led the vicar round the display. Food over there; drinks where they usually were; friends scattered around here, there and everywhere.

And Billy's smile fell from his face with every second.

The presents table was last and Billy raised an eyebrow. There were three in the same wrapping paper; two on top of them and one on top of those.

'D'ya know how long it look Kirk to work out a system for this pyramid?' Sean muttered.

'One hour exactly,' Kirk said, proudly, appearing from behind the table.

Billy smiled at the package man. 'Thank you, Kirk,' he said, genuinely.

Kirk was still grinning when he walked away.

'Okay, so the bottom three are from-' he cleared his throat and pointed to each present as he rattled off a name - 'Emily; Rita and Norris; and Mary. Rita and Norris shared the same present.'

The bottom three were the largest; making up the foundation of the pyramid.

'The two in the middle are from Eileen; and Jason and Todd - again, Jason and Todd are the same present,' Sean continued.

The middle ones were the belly of the structure; medium in size.

'And the top one is from me!' the barman exclaimed, merrily.

The top was the pretty star that was the decoration; it was the smallest, but the one that Billy looked forward to most. Not just because he was a man of the little things in life, but for the fact that it was from Sean, a man that he had come to love and had fought hard against his own inner demons to come to that conclusion.

The vicar smiled at Sean. 'Thank you,' he said. 'So, is this what you were getting sorted out while I was with Kate?'

The barman grinned. 'Of course,' he chirped.

For the first time that day, Billy's smile was not forced.

 

* * *

 

 

Half an hour later, the vicar was taken by the hand and sat down on a stool behind the bar. He furrowed his brows and watched Sean deconstruct the present pyramid and started to bring over the three large presents that were from Mary, Rita and Norris and Emily.

Billy's cheeks coloured a little. He didn't particularly want everyone watching as he unwrapped the various things that had been bought for him.

However, he was pretty much forced to as the first was pushed in front of him and everyone looked at him expectantly.

Tearing the paper open, he found a brown box with a card taped to it. Undoing the card first, featuring a cute kitten hanging on a branch saying, "Hang out on your birthday", he saw that it was from Mary. Setting the card beside the box, he opened the lid and found a Virgin Mary ornament wrapped in bubble wrap. Billy laughed and lifted the gift for all to see. 'Thank you, Mary,' he chuckled.

Mary grinned.

Turning to the next, he saw a card taped on top of the wrapping paper instead of inside it. This card featured a festive scene of a farm in the snow with "Happy birthday" written under it in gold, and was from Rita and Norris. Tearing the wrapping paper once more, he found another brown box, undid it and lifted out a white duvet cover. It was a fine material and incredibly soft. He smiled. 'Thank you, Rita and Norris,' he said.

Rita smiled. 'That's alright, dear,' she said.

'Yes, well...' Norris grunted, shrugging.

The last did not have a card, but rather a gift tag labelling it from Emily. Inside the wrapping paper was a box and inside that box was a china tea tray set. 'Thank you, Emily,' he called to her.

Emily smiled and nodded.

The two medium presents were brought over and Billy started to undo the card taped to the first. Opening it, observing the words, "Happy 36th Birthday" in swirled gold writing and the cake, he found that this was from Eileen. Opening the present itself, he found a large collection of books from Charles Dickens to Iris Gower. 'Thank you, Eileen,' he said.

Eileen leant over and ruffled his hair. 'Didn't think I'd forget ya on your birthday, did ya?' she said. 

Billy grinned at her.

Moving onto the next present, he found a card with a thumbs up on it and another happy birthday message from Todd and Jason. Opening the gift itself, he found a red jumper with white snowflakes on it with the words "Happy birthday, Jesus" embroidered in gold. He laughed. 'Thanks, Jason; thanks, Todd,' he called.

Jason and Todd looked quite pleased with themselves.

Then, Sean gave Billy his last present; the smallest from the barman himself. The vicar received it with a smile and proceeded to unwrap it. Inside was a key on a chain.

'It's a key to the house,' the barman said.

'House?'

'Eileen's house,' Sean clarified, 'so you don't have to knock all the time.'

'Aw,' Billy said, 'thank you.' He reached up and laid a kiss on the other's cheek.

 

* * *

 

 

Half an hour passed and the festivities were still ongoing. Despite the presents that he was very grateful for and were especially nice ones from especially nice people, Billy's mood had not quite increased very much. He still had that lead ball of depression in his stomach that made him feel very uncomfortable and very much like a fraud. He had smiled a lot at several people, but he hadn't quite felt like it.

Sitting in one of the cubicles with Sally yabbering away in his ear about anything and everything as long as it was about her, the vicar ran a hand through his hair. 'I'm just going to get some air, Sally,' he said, getting up and leaving before the Webster could even stop her sentence.

He walked away in a bit of a faff, as though he was angry. Sean watched him leave with a concerned expression.

He sat down under the canopy and put his head in his hands, gripping the back of his skull. He tried to steel his heart from the world, but to no avail. The tears still came.

 

* * *

 

 

Back inside, Sean felt uneasy. He didn't know why, but it was something to do with the way Billy had stormed out. He decided to let him come back in on his own accord, but perhaps he would go out in a few minutes, just to check.

 

* * *

 

 

The vicar had nothing to wipe his face with, his coat back inside and shirt sleeves not quite long enough. The cold night air bit at his face and arms, sending shivers through his muscles and painting his cheeks red.

He untucked his shirt from his trousers and rubbed his eyes with the bottom of it. It was at this point that Sean came outside.

'Billy?' the barman said. Then it all seemed to add up in his brain, 'Billy! You'll catch your death; come here.' He approached the vicar and sat down next to him, putting his arm around the other's waist.

It was then that he noticed the tears on the man's face and the ones unshed in his eyes. 'Hey,' he said, rubbing Billy's side, 'what's the matter?'

The vicar dropped his shirt and put his elbows on his knees, rubbing the back of his neck. 'It's... this... everything. I just... It's too much.'

Sean didn't understand. 'I don't understand.'

'I don't like my birthday,' the vicar said with a defeated sigh.

'Is there a reason?'

Billy licked his lips and swallowed, his mouth suddenly very dry. 'On my sixteenth...' he began, 'my sixteenth birthday, we had a party. And I... I came out.'

'Your parents weren't pleased?' Sean guessed.

The vicar shook his head. 'I confessed... no, that's the wrong word... I told everyone with all of my family watching. My parents had invited all my extended family from both sides - mum and dad - and I met new people and it was great. Then, after we had finished eating, I was put on display to open my presents... I decided that then was a good time to announce it and... the party ended rather abruptly. Family and friends left, Mum and Dad ushered them out of the door. Went round like wildfire at school.' Billy paused to chuckle bitterly. 'Parents sat me down and their disappointment was what hurt the most. My father took it worse than my mother did. " _There's never been a nancy boy in our family and I refuse for any son of mine to be the first_ ," he said, getting in my face.' The vicar sighed and leant back to thump his back against the wall. 'He mentioned the church and how I would never get to be a part of it if they knew what I was; that was why I was reluctant for the Bishop to know.' He turned his head to look at Sean.

The barman shook his head. 'I don't know what to say, Billy,' he sighed, pulling the man to him.

'My father walked out on my mum after that,' the vicar continued, 'since then, she always blamed me for it. And in turn, I blamed myself.'

'But that was twenty years ago,' Sean said, 'have you never tried to get in touch with her?'

'Never had the courage.'

Feeling exhausted suddenly, Billy dropped his head on the barman's chest, sliding down in his seat to do so more comfortably. 'But... I've enjoyed today,' he said, 'maybe someday, I can forget about what happened. Maybe then I can learn to love my birthday again.'

'You will,' Sean said, 'I promise.'

**Author's Note:**

> (Daniel B's actual birthday is on the 21st of December, but after the 18th, I'm banned from my computer until after the New Year to spend time with my family, so I'm posting this in good time).


End file.
